The Wagtunes Corner

[wagtunes]

1st track from my upcoming CD "Hammers And Nails"

And so my NiN project begins. I started with something relatively simple figuring if I can't pull this off respectfully well than I have no prayer with something more complicated.

I found Soundtoys indispensable for this track. Melda Productions came in pretty handy as well. Without a doubt, the coolest piano sound I've ever gotten out of Pianoteq.

A big thank you and shout out to Jace-BeOS who gave me the suggestion to try to tackle this one. Hope it's at least not horrible, though judging by the poll results, I'm sure most people will say it is.

Hammers And Nails

Use my face for a cheese grater
Hammers and nails
Use my face for a cheese grater
Hammers and nails
Catch up to yuh sooner or later
Hammers and nails
Land you in a crater
Hammers and nails

Your mother didn't teach you things
Learned them in a boxing ring
Have yourself a casual fling
Your mother didn't teach you things

Repeat Chorus

Instrumental Break

Repeat Chorus

Suck the life out of your soul today
Maybe to your God you'll pray
Satan wins out anyway
Suck the life out of your soul today

Repeat Chorus

Outro

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim ... -and-nails

[Jace-BeOS]

Another from me.

I agree with your analysis, too.

What do you find is unique about Trent’s voice? I’ve always liked it, despite it sometimes being nasal (mine is too). I’ve always felt his “scream” and “yell” sound is much more pleasantly tonal and aligned with the pitch of the surrounding vocals compared to most(?) other singers who will break into screams.

Most others seem to lose the pitch, as though they’re choking off their voice into a screech. Example: Mike Patton of Faith No More. I love his singing voice but I dislike his growls, shouts, and screams. Others probably love it, and they also probably love other things I don’t care for, like death metal vocals. It’s certainly differing tastes, but I like to analyze the what & why of my tastes.

Again, I’m not a wide listener, so I might’ve missed other vocalists with the same trait.

[Jace-BeOS]

1st track from my upcoming CD "Hammers And Nails"

And so my NiN project begins. I started with something relatively simple figuring if I can't pull this off respectfully well than I have no prayer with something more complicated.

I found Soundtoys indispensable for this track. Melda Productions came in pretty handy as well. Without a doubt, the coolest piano sound I've ever gotten out of Pianoteq.

A big thank you and shout out to Jace-BeOS who gave me the suggestion to try to tackle this one. Hope it's at least not horrible, though judging by the poll results, I'm sure most people will say it is.

Hammers And Nails

Use my face for a cheese grater
Hammers and nails
Use my face for a cheese grater
Hammers and nails
Catch up to yuh sooner or later
Hammers and nails
Land you in a crater
Hammers and nails

Your mother didn't teach you things
Learned them in a boxing ring
Have yourself a casual fling
Your mother didn't teach you things

Repeat Chorus

Instrumental Break

Repeat Chorus

Suck the life out of your soul today
Maybe to your God you'll pray
Satan wins out anyway
Suck the life out of your soul today

Repeat Chorus

Outro

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim ... -and-nails

Definitely fits the general sound motif, if not the solemnity. This was fun

My favorite part is the middle instrumental bridge(?) part and the decorative guitar bits. Some neat sounds and textures used.

And wow, you work quickly! I spend so little time actually making stuff myself. I’m impressed at your commitment to making music. Has this always been a fast process for you?

[wagtunes]

Another from me.

I agree with your analysis, too.

What do you find is unique about Trent’s voice? I’ve always liked it, despite it sometimes being nasal (mine is too). I’ve always felt his “scream” and “yell” sound is much more pleasantly tonal and aligned with the pitch of the surrounding vocals compared to most(?) other singers who will break into screams.

Most others seem to lose the pitch, as though they’re choking off their voice into a screech. Example: Mike Patton of Faith No More. I love his singing voice but I dislike his growls, shouts, and screams. Others probably love it, and they also probably love other things I don’t care for, like death metal vocals. It’s certainly differing tastes, but I like to analyze the what & why of my tastes.

Again, I’m not a wide listener, so I might’ve missed other vocalists with the same trait.

Thanks for the

Now, about Trent's voice. It's a combination of two things.

1. The way he processes it. You'll notice there is very little if any reverb at all and it's mixed down low in the arrangement. Listen to The Fragile especially and you'll hear what I'm talking about. He knows his vocal limitations. You will notice he more speaks than sings, kind of like Lou Reed except Lou Reed has a more airy care free voice. Trent's is more ominous. But this is not getting into the territory of point...

2. Just like with the great singers (some of whom don't necessarily have great voices) Trent Reznor's voice is unmistakable just like singers like...

Rod Stewart
Bruce Springsteen
Joe Cocker

You'll notice that none of these are beautiful voices. I mean we're not talking Gary Puckett here.

The reason I like Trent Reznor as a singer is because he knows how to use his voice and how to make it fit what it is he does. If he tried to sing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" in the same style as Judy Garland, it would be laughable. He doesn't have that kind of a voice. He can't do Bing Crosby. I mean he just can't.

In short, his voice is perfect for the music he does, which is edgy and, at times, almost completely dissonant.

FINALLY in 2020 NiN is inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

It's about damn time...the idiots.

[wagtunes]

1st track from my upcoming CD "Hammers And Nails"

And so my NiN project begins. I started with something relatively simple figuring if I can't pull this off respectfully well than I have no prayer with something more complicated.

I found Soundtoys indispensable for this track. Melda Productions came in pretty handy as well. Without a doubt, the coolest piano sound I've ever gotten out of Pianoteq.

A big thank you and shout out to Jace-BeOS who gave me the suggestion to try to tackle this one. Hope it's at least not horrible, though judging by the poll results, I'm sure most people will say it is.

Hammers And Nails

Use my face for a cheese grater
Hammers and nails
Use my face for a cheese grater
Hammers and nails
Catch up to yuh sooner or later
Hammers and nails
Land you in a crater
Hammers and nails

Your mother didn't teach you things
Learned them in a boxing ring
Have yourself a casual fling
Your mother didn't teach you things

Repeat Chorus

Instrumental Break

Repeat Chorus

Suck the life out of your soul today
Maybe to your God you'll pray
Satan wins out anyway
Suck the life out of your soul today

Repeat Chorus

Outro

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim ... -and-nails

Definitely fits the general sound motif, if not the solemnity. This was fun

My favorite part is the middle instrumental bridge(?) part and the decorative guitar bits. Some neat sounds and textures used.

And wow, you work quickly! I spend so little time actually making stuff myself. I’m impressed at your commitment to making music. Has this always been a fast process for you?

Over the years I've picked up speed from sheer repetition. Eventually, you just know what you want to do and how to get it done. Today, that's easier than ever with all the tools we have. Editing back in the day was a nightmare. Today, it's a couple of mouse clicks. And copy and paste? I can make a whole song that way in under an hour.

It was the mixing that took me forever to learn and believe me, for years I sucked at it.

[Jace-BeOS]

Oh yes, the trait of being recognizable is definitely one I assign to Trent Reznor’s voice. Great point!

I’m not sure whether I’d say they’re not capable of beauty (I think Trent’s voice is), but they’re definitely distinctive.

Distinctiveness is something I feel is missing in a lot of current pop music (and casting in films/TV shows), especially with the apparent obsession with making everything perfect (perfect pitch, however artificial-sounding, perfect features, however uncanny valley creepy doll-like).

I struggle to tell one autotuned and harmonized pop-diva from another. I hope this is a trend that dies off some day. A lot of the current batch of artists on play today (maybe not the super duper mega popular ones) actually do have great voices that are, IMO, made generic with vocal processing. My girlfriend showed me a video of a guy playing piano in a room slowly filling with water. The visuals were beautiful, the song was lovely, and his voice was nice... until they artificially thickened it up with harmonizers during the choruses.

A lot of the greatest artists had character, and even though it was sometimes a thing to get used to (and maybe technically poor voicing, in a classical sense), they had distinctiveness and that helped make them stand out.

I think uniformity is a common problem with music as marketed product, as the grunge voice of the 90s also demonstrated. Some were interesting, but it got to where I started confusing one growly grumbler for another. I played a sort of game with my girlfriend where I told her which of her random song selections of bands I didn’t know were 90s bands... I was fairly accurate. That doesn’t mean I necessarily disliked the songs, though.

Trends. Not a fan, personally. Though I guess Stabbing Westward, wouldn’t have been brought to attention by a record company if that company hadn’t specifically been looking for “their own NIN”... and I appreciate the result of having their CDs on my shelf, even if I don’t rate them as highly in my taste preferences.

Sorry to ramble.

[wagtunes]

Oh yes, the trait of being recognizable is definitely one I assign to Trent Reznor’s voice. Great point!

I’m not sure whether I’d say they’re not capable of beauty (I think Trent’s voice is), but they’re definitely distinctive.

Distinctiveness is something I feel is missing in a lot of current pop music (and casting in films/TV shows), especially with the apparent obsession with making everything perfect (perfect pitch, however artificial-sounding, perfect features, however uncanny valley creepy doll-like).

I struggle to tell one autotuned and harmonized pop-diva from another. I hope this is a trend that dies off some day. A lot of the current batch of artists on play today (maybe not the super duper mega popular ones) actually do have great voices that are, IMO, made generic with vocal processing. My girlfriend showed me a video of a guy playing piano in a room slowly filling with water. The visuals were beautiful, the song was lovely, and his voice was nice... until they artificially thickened it up with harmonizers during the choruses.

A lot of the greatest artists had character, and even though it was sometimes a thing to get used to (and maybe technically poor voicing, in a classical sense), they had distinctiveness and that helped make them stand out.

I think uniformity is a common problem with music as marketed product, as the grunge voice of the 90s also demonstrated. Some were interesting, but it got to where I started confusing one growly grumbler for another. I played a sort of game with my girlfriend where I told her which of her random song selections of bands I didn’t know were 90s bands... I was fairly accurate. That doesn’t mean I necessarily disliked the songs, though.

Trends. Not a fan, personally. Though I guess Stabbing Westward, wouldn’t have been brought to attention by a record company if that company hadn’t specifically been looking for “their own NIN”... and I appreciate the result of having their CDs on my shelf, even if I don’t rate them as highly in my taste preferences.

Sorry to ramble.

No need to apologize for rambling. It's nice to have somebody to talk to around here. I take it you go back quite a ways if not as far back as I do (watched The Beatles on Ed Sullivan in 1964).

As I am deeply entrenched in this business, for better or worse, I have to be able to tell Taylor Swift from Katy Perry, even if both are essentially produced by Max Martin. I think he produces most of the pop today.

And the truth is, things really aren't that much different from when I was a kid. You always had your copycats.

Look at prog rock from the late 60s to late 70s before it pretty much died out, at least as far as mainstream radio went.

You had Yes, which spawned Starcastle.
You had ELP, which spawned Triumvirat
You had Genesis (1967) which spawned Gentle Giant (1970)

By the mid 1970s, you have so many prog rock bands that is was hard to keep track. But my favorites were ultimately the ones that were the most popular with few exceptions.

The cream always rises to the top. You may not like Taylor Swift and Katy Perry but their productions are flawless. I wish I could do stuff like that. I'd be living in a mansion.

Do I like a lot of today's stuff? No, of course not. But I didn't like a lot of stuff back in the day either.

With few exceptions, I was not a fan of most disco, rap, hip hop and reggae.

Country? Talk about everything sounding the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY8SwIvxj8o

It is what it is because, at the end of the day, it's still a business. We can do our art, but unless we're very lucky, our art isn't going to put food on the table.

I've learned to live with that and don't hold it against most artists.

[Jace-BeOS]

No need to apologize for rambling. It's nice to have somebody to talk to around here.

I take it you go back quite a ways if not as far back as I do (watched The Beatles on Ed Sullivan in 1964).

I was created in 1975. I’ve not been terribly attentive to music in a wider scope for most of my life, and I admit to having had an era of being ideologically polluted by an elitist hipster “best friend” for many years. I’ve come to terms with differing tastes since being out of his life. It’s still a work in progress for me.

As I am deeply entrenched in this business, for better or worse, I have to be able to tell Taylor Swift from Katy Perry, even if both are essentially produced by Max Martin. I think he produces most of the pop today.

I’m sure there are differences to notice, especially when given full attention. My girlfriend is WAY more eclectic than I will ever be and I’m getting occasional lessons in the mainstream. We even talked a bit about Max Martin fairly recently.

And the truth is, things really aren't that much different from when I was a kid. You always had your copycats.

Look at prog rock from the late 60s to late 70s before it pretty much died out, at least as far as mainstream radio went.

You had Yes, which spawned Starcastle.
You had ELP, which spawned Triumvirat
You had Genesis (1967) which spawned Gentle Giant (1970)

By the mid 1970s, you have so many prog rock bands that is was hard to keep track. But my favorites were ultimately the ones that were the most popular with few exceptions.

I’m sure this is all completely accurate, even without first-hand exposure of my own to the 70s and 60s (sadly, my parents weren’t into music and I’ve had to rely on peers, limited as that was, and culture). Humans do have repeated behavior patterns, and societies are collections of mimicking primates...

The cream always rises to the top. You may not like Taylor Swift and Katy Perry but their productions are flawless. I wish I could do stuff like that. I'd be living in a mansion.

Yeah. Appreciated.

Do I like a lot of today's stuff? No, of course not. But I didn't like a lot of stuff back in the day either.

With few exceptions, I was not a fan of most disco, rap, hip hop and reggae.

Country? Talk about everything sounding the same.

I’ve felt the same. I’ve just realized (with some help) that a fan of even fairly homogeneous music genres will recognize the defining traits of the musicians they follow (or those they follow vs those they don’t care for).

It is what it is because, at the end of the day, it's still a business. We can do our art, but unless we're very lucky, our art isn't going to put food on the table.

I've learned to live with that and don't hold it against most artists.

It’s still a learning process for me... both creating music (and disciplining myself to do the work when I’m not motivated, because money isn’t ever going to be part of it), and in listening to a wider range of music and not being so harsh against that which isn’t for me. I can analyze the business with a critical eye and criticize choices, but I ultimately really should be okay with what people like, even when it’s not for me.

The hardest part for me is the struggle between art and product. Same for film/TV. We have such wonderful mediums for art, but business so often compromises it. Without the business, there’d probably be less stuff made overall.

[wagtunes]

Sadly, without the business, there would be very little art made by anyone. At least not art that people in general would want to watch, view, listen to or whatever.

And with that, tomorrow I start my next trek into NiN land.

[wagtunes]

2nd track from my upcoming CD "Hammers And Nails" a tribute to NiN

Rip Out My Heart

You sit there smug and self assured
You made me think you're so demure
I watch the days pass by like years
I sit here drowning in my tears

Rip out my heart
Rip out my heart
Rip out my heart
Rip out my heart

The clouds they come and bring the rain
It hurts so much can't feel the pain
You suck the life right out of me
I wish to God you'd set me free

Repeat Chorus

Out come the scissors put down the knife
Nothing can save my damn wretched life
You popped the cork on my white Zinfandel
Took me from heaven and sent me to hell

Instrumental Break

Repeat Chorus

Outro

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim ... t-my-heart

[empphryio]

I haven't listened to NIN much. To the extent I have it seemed like sexiness was an important component. I didn't hear any sexy in your first two NIN tracks. Otherwise pretty good.

[wagtunes]

I haven't listened to NIN much. To the extent I have it seemed like sexiness was an important component. I didn't hear any sexy in your first two NIN tracks. Otherwise pretty good.

Thanks. I don't do sexy. I just do mean and angry.

[wagtunes]

I haven't listened to NIN much. To the extent I have it seemed like sexiness was an important component. I didn't hear any sexy in your first two NIN tracks. Otherwise pretty good.

But you did give me an idea (warped as it is) for the next song. Thanks.

[vurt]

havent listened yet but looking forward to these

[wagtunes]

havent listened yet but looking forward to these

They're a bit different from my usual stuff.